DEMANDE EN INDICATION DE MESURES CONSERVATOIRES PRÉSENTÉE PAR LE GOUVERNEMENT DU NICARAGUA
REQUEST FOR THE INDICATION OF PROVISIONAL MEASURES SUBMI'ITED BY THE GOVERNMENT OF NICARAGUA
514 BORDER AND TRANSBORDER ARMED ACTIONS
present inclined to collahorate with the United States in ils policy of claiming virtuc in publie forums whilst ignoring the norms of international conduci on the eround. The indication bv thc Court of measures aonrooriate.. . to the cir- L.uni\t:inx. iiciul.l :
The Hague. 21 March 1988.
(Signed) Carlos ARG~ELLOG., Agcnt of Nicaragua. A'iTACHMENTS TO THE REQUEST FOR THE INDICATION OF PROVISIONAL MEASURES
Managua. March 18th 1988.
To the Right Honorable Carlos Lopez Contreras. Minister of Foreign Relations of Honduras.
Dear Minister, Dccply concerned, 1 address myself to you in order to inform you of the following events: On March 17th 1988 at 12.00 noon, 2 jets peneiraied Nicaraguan airspace from Honduras and launchcd 5 rockets in thc rcgion of Amaka in the border zone between both couniries. at the moment when Lieutenant Colonel Javier Carrion. De~utv. . Chief of the General Staff of the Szindinista Po~ularArmv. u,ns offcrin- ;i prcrs ~onfcrcnîcfi~r il n:iiii~n.il :inJ forcign ~<~urn:ali,ts.Su~h ireachcro~\a1t;ick. \\,idel! covercJ the )nurnaI~st 1 take this opportunity to assure Your Excellency of my highesi considera- tion. Miguel D'ESCOTOBROCKMANN, Minister of Foreign Allairs. Managua. Nicaragua. March 19th 1988. To the Right Honorable Carlos Lope2 Contreras. Minister of Foreign Affairs, Tegucigalpa. Honduras. Dear Minister, 1 address myself to Your Excellency to give an account of the following acts: 011 \I;irch IXtIi I)etwcen I'Jiiti aiid ?I 011 p ni . n yr~iupiif ;ipprosiiii:itcl~30 mcrcenarici. procccding from Il 1- must~~~~~~ also~~-~ inform Your Excellencv. that on March 15th of this vear. air- planes proceeding from Honduras commitied three violations of Nicaraguan airs~ace,and after their incursion, returned towards Honduran ierritory. ~imilarviolations of our national airsoace iook dace in similar conditions on March 16th. 17th and 18th. with 4.'10, and 19'air incursions respeciively. All this, amounts Io ;i total of 26 violations of Nicaraguan sovereignty. 1 must cmphasize that on v:irious occasions these incursions were accompanicd by attacks on Our tcrritory. In face of these repeated. unjustified and treacherous acts of aggression against the Republic of Nicaragua, 1 convey to you Our resolute and vigorous protest. Simultaneously. 1 wish to inform you that Our Agent at the Interna- tional Court of Jusiicc has been instructed to rcquest immediately that ihis institution of justice indicate the interim protective measures to be taken in the case concemine Border [in[/ Trunsbor~lerArr>ierl Actiorrs initiated bv the Re- public of ~icakgua. Such decision constitutes yet another proof that the Government of Nica- ragua, faithful to ils obligation to seek for peaceful solutions to thosc situa- tions which threaten international peace, opts for means of settlemcnt of differences to which it is obliged to resort under the agreements contained in the United Nations Charter and the Bogota Pact. Similar motivations are de- rived from my couniry's deep concern for the establishment of a jus1 and ATTACHMENTS TO THE REOUI?ST 517 long-lasting peace in the rcgion; a pçace that your Covernment insists on cn- dangcring in an unjustified and irresponsible manncr. 1 take this opportunity to assure Your Excellency of my highest considera- lion. Miguel D'ESCOTO BROCKMANN. Minister of Foreign Affairs. Managua, Nicaragua, March 19th 1988. To the Right Honorable Carlos Ldpez Contreras. Ministcr of Foreign Affairs. Tegucigalpa, Honduras. Dear Ministcr, Once agaiii I am obliged 10 üddress myself to Your Excellency, in order to report ihe following attacks: Today, March 19th, between 08.00 and 08.30 am.. two F5 airplanes origi- nating in Honduran territory flew over the regions of Mukuwas. San Andres de Bocay, Waniwas and Wayawa. located approximately 12 kms inside Nicara- guan ierritory. and they procceded to bomb and machine-gun these locations. Latcr. between 14.35 and 14.45 p.m.. two F5 airplanes again flew over the region of Amara and Bocav located 8 kms inside Nicaraeuan territorv. Thev drEppcd 4 bombs on ~andiiisiaPopular Army positionsyn these zoncs. ~ub- sequently, the planes returned to their sanctuary inside Honduran territory. The Government of Nicaragua vigorously and formally protests in vicw of this series of aggressions zigainsi Nicaraguan territory, to which should bc added the illicit bombings. attacks and air raids which 1 have already denounced in the notes addressed to you yesicrday and this morning. Thesc facts clarify the meaning of the announcement made yesterday by Presideni Azcona, when in a press conference he stated "The nearest available resourcc we have is the Air Force, and we will use it agnin in the future, should it be detcrmined that the Sandinistas have not lcft Our territory . . .". In fact, what Prcsidcnt Azcona was snnouncinr beforehand. was the bombine uf Niczi- raguan tcrritory, since there is no indrcation of an) Sandinista "invasion" of Honduran soil. Therefore, in order to fulfil his words, he could only have meant -as indeed happened - thai the target would be oiir national territory. Thcse new attacks coniirm the iustice of~ the~ action of the Renublic of N\'ic:ir;igua in rciluc%tinpkir ihc c##iiiiiionhcnclii PRESIDENTDANIEL ORTEGA'S MESSAGE 1'0 THE NICAKAGUANPEOPLB Managua. 19 March 1988. Yesterday. Nicaragua presented our denunciation to the United Nations Security Council. In recent days. we have learned of actions throughout the world rejecting and condemning the aggressive and terrorist policy of the US Government. We have particularly noted. and are hearing more about, the North Americaii peoples' rcpudiation of this policy. l'hcy arc demanding thç withdrawal of US trooos disnatched to Honduras that~ arc~ ~ ~ threatenine~~~~ -~ ~D iiur-~~~ country. our sovereignty, our lives zind security. The attitude maintained by the Nicaraauan Government towards Central American Governments and: in particulaÏ. towards the Honduran Govern- ment is well known. Nicaragua has a claim against Honduras before the World Court of Justice ai The Hague for allowinr! militarv. oaramilitarv. and terrorist activities of CS C;otcri;nicnt iiicrccn;i;\ ioric~~tu'bclaunchcil iroin 1lonJur:iii tcrriiairy :igainsi the Nic;ir;iquaii p~. draw their mercenaries from Honduran territory. The Honduran Government has not even dared to denounce that this presence constitutes a violation of the sovereign will of the Honduran people. and the very sovereignty of Hiinduras. It is an act of intervention by the United States in Honduras. In view of thesc facts. and taking into account that Honduras is already rejecting the proposal for the commission sent by the UN Secrctary-General to go to Honduran terri- tory, Nicaragua has no alternative hut to reactivatc Our case before the World law. There~ ~ is no orher alternati;~~ ~ for the ~icaraeuanGovernment exceot to reactivate the legal process against the ~onduran~~overnment.This is a 'legal proccss, as 1 explained. that we had agrced to momentarily detain for a pcriud of 150 davs from the date on which thc Esouinulas Accords were siened. In lighi of the complicity and active p&tiLipation of the ~ondiranArmy in bombings and acts of aggression promoted by the United States Govern- ment (who have transferred troops Io Honduran territory) and without under- cstimating the threats of President Don José Azcona to carry out new bom- bings and ask for more US "support", 1 am giving the necessary instructions to Our rcpresentative beforc the World Court to immcdiately request intcrim protective measures lrom the Court. Our aim will be to request that the Court ordcr a cessation of any military activity that could make relations between Honduras and Nicaragua evcn morï tcnsc and put international peace in jcopardy. In taking this step within the framcwork of international laws, Nicaragua is once again defcnding international lcgiil order. We know that the peoplc of Honduras. uur brolhers, are not in iigrcïmcnt with this policy that is already affccting the sovereignty of Honduras, that has provoked destabilization in towns dong the Honduran border with Nicaragua. where the mercenary camps have been establishcd. And WC are sure that the people of Honduras will understand and comprehcnd this stcp by our Government of appealing to thc World Court. WC do so to ensure that the conflict is not aggravated. to ensure that Honduran and Nicaraguan blood will not be shed as a product of those confrontational rnancuvres that the United States is now promoting to intcrvene against the Nicaraguan people. 1 also want to cal1 on the Honduran President, Don José Azcona Hoyo. and the armed forces of Honduras no1 Io lcnd themselves to these actions that put the security of Honduras and Nicaragua al risk, that put the security and peace of Central America and the world al risk. There is still lime to rcconsidcr, reilect, and rectify. 1 invite President Azcona to receive the commission that thc UN Secrctary-General, in co-ordination with the OAS Secretary General, is sending to inspect on site Nicaraguan territory that borders Honduras, as wcll as Honduran territory that hordcrs Nicaragua. Let the Honduran Presidcnt and thc ürmed forces of Honduras takc the c Court. The World Court has already said that the United States Governmcnt mus1 cease ils ierrorist acts, its aggressions against the Nicaraguan people. And the United Siaies President. if he reallv wanted to be resoectful of international lcgal order. President Konald Keaga;, if hc really wanied to be respectful of the accords signed by the Central American Presidents on 7 Augusi in Guate- mala should order the immediate withdrawal of US trooos from Honduran ter- riiury. Dut. ;ihinr. ;III. Iir \Ii mus1 mainiain the alert. the combat mobilizaiion until~~~~~ this~~~~- situation-~~~~~~ i sur- passed. We ihank Our brothers and sisters around the world for the demon- strations of solidarity that we have been rcceivine. from al1 uarts of ihc globe. In particular, we thank the people of the United- tat tes who today arcbcing repressed in the streets, are being clubbed hy the US police simply hecziusc they demand that the United States, that thc Keagan Administration stop trying Io turn Central America into another Vietnam. The people of the United States want ti, prevent the massive bloodshcd of Central American and North American people. We extend Our reci,gnition and salute to thosc people. in the United States in particular. who have joined us in the battle we wagc today for peace and for a future of friendly relations between Our two nations. LETTER FROM THE AGENT OFNICARAGUA TO THE REGISTRAR OF THE INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE NOTiFYlNG THE WlTHDRAWAL BY THE GOVERNMENT OF NICARAGUA OF ITS REQUEST FOR THE INDICATION OF PROVISIONAL MEASURES 31 March 1988. Dear Sir. 1 have the honour to rcfer to the case concernine Hortler und Trirrrshorder . . nication to the Court. The Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Nicaragua. Dr. José Leon Tala- vera, was expressly charged with delivering to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Honduras. of the letter dated March 28, 1988 that President Ortega ad- dressed to Presidcnt Azcona. and of which the Court was furnished with a '=OP?. On occasion or that meeting. Dcputy Minister Talavera was givcn assu- rances by the Honduran authoritics that the troops 01' the Government of the United States that had recentlv been sent to thal country were being with- Jr.iivn. Ilr. wns :ilw iiilil ih:ii duc iu ihc 1:;aricr cclchr;iiip I'hc puhli;di PRINTED IN THE NETHERLANDS ISSN 0074-4433 ISBN 92-1-070755-9